Chapter 18
The example of David
| 1 Τί δὲ εἴπωμεν ἐπὶ τῷ μεμαρτυρημένῳ Δαυίδ; ἐφ' οὗ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Εὗρον ἄνδρα κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου, Δαυὶδ τὸν τοῦ Ἰεσσαί, ἐν ἐλέει αἰωνίῳ ἔχρισα αὐτόν. | What will we say about famous David? God said of him, "I have found a man after My heart, David, the son of Jesse. With eternal mercy I have anointed him" {Ps. 89:20}. |
| 2 ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς λέγει πρὸς τὸν θεόν· Ἐλέησόν με, ὁ θεός, κατὰ τὸ μέγα ἔλεός σου, καὶ κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν σου ἐξάλειψον τὸ ἀνόμημά μου. |
Yet he also said to God,
"Have mercy upon me, Oh God, according to Your great mercy. According to the abundance of Your compassion, blot out my iniquity. |
| 3 ἐπὶ πλεῖον πλῦνόν με ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνομίας μου, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας μου καθάρισόν με· ὅτι τὴν ἀνομίαν μου ἐγὼ γινώσκω, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία μου ἐνώπιόν μου ἐστὶν διαπαντός. | Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my transgression. For I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is always before me. |
| 4 σοί μόνῳ ἥμαρτον, καὶ τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιόν σου ἐποίησα, ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, καὶ νικήσῃς ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε. | Against only You have I sinned and worked evil in Your sight so that You may be justified in Your words and may win when You are judged. |
| 5 ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἐν ἀνομίαις συνελήμφθην, καὶ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ἐκίσσησέν με ἡ μήτηρ μου. | For behold I was conceived in transgressions, and my mother gave birth to me in sins. |
| 6 ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἀλήθειαν ἠγάπησας· τὰ ἄδηλα καὶ τὰ κρύφια τῆς σοφίας σου ἐδήλωσάς μοι. |
You have loved truth. You have revealed the obscure and hidden things to me. |
| 7 ῥαντιεῖς με ὑσσώπῳ, καὶ καθαρισθήσομαι· πλυνεῖς με καὶ ὑπὲρ χιόνα λευκανθήσομαι. | You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean. You will wash me, and I will become whiter than snow. |
| 8 ἀκουτιεῖς με ἀγαλλίασιν καὶ εὐφροσύνην. ἀγαλλιάσονται ὀστᾶ τεταπεινωμένα. | You will make me hear joy and gladness. The bones which have been humbled will rejoice. |
| 9 ἀπόστρεψον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν μου, καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀνομίας μου ἐξάλειψον. | Turn Your face away from my sins, and blot out all my transgressions. |
| 10 καρδίαν καθαρὰν κτίσον ἐν ἐμοί, ὁ θεός, καὶ πνεῦμα εὐθὲς ἐγκαίνισον ἐν τοῖς ἐγκάτοις μου. | Create a clean heart within me, Oh God; and renew a right spirit in my inner parts. |
| 11 μὴ ἀπορίψῃς με ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου σου, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιόν σου μὴ ἀντανέλῃς ἀπ' ἐμοῦ. | don’t throw me away from Your presence, and don’t take Your Holy Spirit from me. |
| 12 ἀπόδος μοι τὴν ἀγαλλίασιν τοῦ σωτηρίου σου, καὶ πνεύματι ἡγεμονικῷ στήρισόν με. | Restore the joy of Your salvation to me, and strengthen me with Your guiding spirit. |
| 13 διδάξω ἀνόμους τὰς ὁδούς σου, καὶ ἀσεβεῖς ἐπιστρέψουσιν ἐπὶ σέ. | I will teach sinners Your ways, and godless men will return to You. |
| 14 ῥῦσαί με ἐξ αἱμάτων, ὁ θεός, ὁ θεὸς τῆς σωτηρίας μου. | Deliver me from blood-guilt, Oh God, the God of my salvation. |
| 15 ἀγαλλιάσεται ἡ γλῶσσά μου τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου. κύριε, τὸ στόμα μου ἀνοίξεις, καὶ τὰ χείλη μου ἀναγγελεῖ τὴν αἴνεσίν σου. | My tongue will rejoice in Your righteousness. Lord, You will open my mouth and my lips will announce Your praise. |
| 16 ὅτι εἰ ἠθέλησας θυσίαν, ἔδωκα ἄν· ὁλοκαυτώματα οὐκ εὐδοκήσεις. | For if You had wanted sacrifice, I would have given it; but You have no pleasure in whole burnt offerings. |
| 17 θυσία τῷ θεῷ πνεῦμα συντετριμμένον· καρδίαν συντετριμμένην καὶ τεταπεινωμένην ὁ θεὸς οὐκ ἐξουθενώσει. | A sacrifice for God is a broken spirit. God won’t despise a broken and humble heart" {Ps. 51:1-17}. |
Summary
In Chapter 18, Clement introduces King David as the final major Old Testament exemplar in his sequence on humility (tapeinophrosynē). Building on his previous examples (Abraham, Job, and Moses), Clement highlights a striking paradox: although God explicitly bore witness to David as a man after His own heart (κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου) and anointed him with eternal mercy (ἐν ἐλέει αἰωνίῳ), David did not respond with self-importance or pride. Instead, when faced with his shortcomings, he poured out a deep, public confession of sin using the words of Psalm 51 (LXX).
Clement uses David’s penitential prayer to reinforce his central pastoral argument to the Corinthians: if a great king and prophet approached God with a shattered and humbled spirit rather than relying on status or external sacrifices, the factious members in Corinth must likewise abandon their arrogance and embrace genuine repentance.
Significant Greek Expressions
τῷ μεμαρτυρημένῳ Δαυείδ (David who received testimony): Utilizes the perfect passive participle of martyreō, emphasizing that David’s status was established by divine witness rather than self-promotion.
κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου (According to My heart): A classical scriptural phrase (1 Samuel 13:14) denoting deep spiritual harmony and election by God.
συντετριμμένον / τεταπεινωμένην (Broken / Humbled): The theological pinnacle of the chapter. Syntrimmenos describes something crushed or shattered, while tapeinōmenos points to self-abasement. Clement uses these terms to define the exact internal disposition required to heal the divisions in Corinth.
θυσία τῷ θεῷ πνεῦμα συντετριμμένον (The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit): Contrasts mechanical, ritualistic offerings (holokautōmata) with true spiritual sacrifice—a contrite heart that God refuses to reject (οὐκ ἐξουθενώσει).